Robert Nugent Lynch

Bishop Lynch received his bachelor of arts degree from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio in May 1963 and his master of divinity degree from Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts in May, 1978. That same month, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Miami.

As a priest for the Archdiocese of Miami, Lynch served as associate pastor of St. James in North Miami, and rector and president of St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami. His most recent assignment before coming to St. Petersburg was in Southwest Ranches, located in Broward County, FL, where then Monsignor Lynch served for about six months as the second pastor of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church.

On December 5, 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed Lynch the fourth Bishop of St. Petersburg to fill the vacancy left when John Favalora was named Archbishop of Miami a year prior.

Lynch was consecrated and installed as Bishop on January 26, 1996. Archbishop Favalora served as Principal Consecrator with Archbishop Edward McCarthy and Archbishop Paul Casimir Marcinkus serving as Principal Co-Consecrators.

Bishop Lynch served terms as the General Secretary of the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB).

Bishop Lynch was appointed the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Palm Beach, while remaining the Bishop of St. Petersburg, on June 6, 1998. He remained administrator until November 12, 1998, when Bishop Anthony O'Connell was appointed to fill the vacancy.

Bishop Lynch continued the reorganization and management of the diocese begun under Archbishop Favalora. He commissioned the building of a new Pastoral Center, and on March 31, 2000, the newly erected Bishop W. Thomas Larkin Pastoral Center was formally dedicated. He also took an active role in planning for the future construction of new Catholic high schools, and improvements to the existing schools.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg during Lynch's tenure has spent $4.7 million to settle sexual misconduct cases.[1][2] Also during Lynch's tenure, the diocese paid a $100,000 settlement to the former diocesan spokesman who accused Bishop Lynch of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching. [3]

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on November 28, 2016 and named Gregory Parkes as his successor.

• Diocese of St. Petersburg
• Bishop Lynch Biography
• Clerical Response to Terri Schiavo's Death